Tutorial: A Cute Bucket Hat

This tutorial shows how to make the cutest bucket hat for your kid. (Like, ever. From the best FREE bucket hat pattern I've ever seen!) An easy sewing project with (simplified) step-by-step instructions for sewing beginners. I link to the best free bucket hat pattern I know- make sure to get one for you too!

This post contains affiliate links for your convenience. Thanks for your support. Remember this bucket hat I made some time ago? Yes, this one.My kid loves it and so do I, in fact it's my FAVORITE piece I've sewn so far for kids! And judging from your pinterest re-pins (here), many of you like it too, a good reason to help you make it yourself!

Do you want to make one yourself? Read on, below is an easy TUTORIAL waiting for you:)

1) FREE PATTERN

Yes, totally true: the pattern has been made available free-of-charge by Oliver'+S! Yeey! (But just to be clear, I am not in any way associated with Oliver+S. Just in love with their bucket hat pattern :) It includes professional sewing instructions, meaning you can sew one too!

Why I love this sun hat - and the pattern (and why you might too):

It fits perfectly. (Some hats don't.)

It doesn't keep falling off. (Some hats do.)

The brim is just the perfect size for keeping the little face from direct sun. (Some hat brims aren't.)

Comfortable!

So totally cute, cute, cute! (Especially if you get to choose your fav fabrics!)

The pattern is FREE!

2) A SEWING TRICK TO MAKE IT EASIER

To me, it simply looks like the best bucket hat pattern I've ever bumped into! However, I need to admit that the project might not be easy for amateurs like me (which I see as the only downside of the otherwise brilliant and clear instructions provided).

Well, but then again, why not make things easier, right? ;) You might want to try out what I (unprofessionally and inappropriately) call the 'inside-out technique' after I learned it from a wonderful book, but that's another story. I'll just show you how I used it as a kind of shortcut to make the project even easier. And if you like it, you can make it this way (the result will be the same as if you followed the original instructions).

3) Here, A SIMPLIFIED TUTORIAL (updated):

1) Grab the cutest two pieces of matching fabrics you've got in your stash. Or get some adorable ones. I love these gorgeously cute cotton prints I have found at peek-a-boo shop.

2) Use the free Oliver+S bucket hat pattern (here) to cut out the parts:

3) Sew the two pieces of the sides for the bucket hat together. And the two pieces of the brim, too. In both colors, so you've basically got 4 circular bands:

4) Now, let's make one color first: pin the 'sides' circular band to the crown (match the triple notch marks!). You'll probably need to use a lot of pins and make tiny cuts into the fabric on the sides' piece to make the pieces match (clearly visible on the photo). Take your time. (Pinning was the hardest part for me as I'm not really a patient 'pinner'):

5) From here on, it just gets easier: just sew all the way around. If you've put the pins like on the picture, it will be easy to remove them as you go.

6) Then topstitch around the sides for a nicer look:

7) Take the brim piece and pin it to the cap (right sides together!) - you'll just need to put in a few pins. Basically just pin the notches together and add a pin here and there, if you need to:

8) ...aaaand sew all the way around. Easy peasy:

9) To make the seam look prettier, topstitch the brim like you topstitched around the crown (see No 6 above):

10) Repeat steps 4-9 with the other color, and you've got yourself these two beauties:

11) Put the two 'hats' together with the right sides facing each other. Sew the brims (i.e. the largest circle) together, but not all the way round - leave an opening of, let's say 5 cm. You'll need it to turn the hat (... and here the words promised above...) inside out:

12) Now turn it inside out through the opening and you've basically made it! Fingerpress and close (=sew) the opening. Iron the brim so you get an even outer edge. Pin around the sides so you stabilize the brims for stitching (sorry, only the blue side of the hat available here):

13) Now, the only thing left to do is stitching the brim (see the lines all the way around the brim of the completed hat? Yes, those.) They will give stability to the hat.

BONUS HINTon stitching the brim: I used a turquoise thread, which makes the (somewhat squiggly) lines and the (uneven) gaps visible. I just like them as they are (uneven lines have been my signature ;). But there's high chance you will want to hide them, so you can do that by choosing the thread color that will match the fabric. Simple, right?

And here it comes ... another cute hat for a cute head. Didn't I say it's the best bucket hat pattern I've ever seen? Now go, make one for your kid, too.

And if you are looking for some adorable new fabric, you can check out these cute fabrics by peek-a-boo. (They've also got gorgeous animal prints!) Now you can start making your kids' stylish DIY hat collection!

Happy sewing :)

NO TIME FOR SEWING? NO PROBLEM!

Sometimes life gets in between and there's simply no time to make something (let alone a hat!), no matter how much you'd like to sew. Happens to me sometimes too :) -

Want More Free Patterns+Tutorials?

Get email updates and never miss out on new free patterns, printables and tutorials. If you sign up at THIS link, you'll also get the Fabric Hanging Basket Templatefor FREE, right now. A cute and easy-sew!

Or, if you feel like it, browse through my other PDF patterns on Craftsy. You might find a few really cute and easy new PDF patterns for your projects. Or, check out this cute earflap beanie pattern:

Pam, that's awesome! Thank you for featuring the bucket hat for kids, I'll put up a button with the link to your blog on my Features page. Immediately! And I'm sure the tutorial will work for your readers, too - with all the sun in Australia (oh, I'd love to be there now!!). I'm happy when I see my work is useful to people. :) Hugs from cludy and (at the moment not at all sunny) Slovenia!

Yes, I printed it out on an A4 format.When printing out, just make sure you use it with no-scaling (or, on some printers, 100% size). This way the pattern should come out OK. Let me know how it goes! Damjana

Love your pattern & tutorial!!! It is exactly what I'm looking for. I just have one problem. It is too small for my grandson who thinks he is the great big game hunter & wants a hat like this that they wear on the T.V. shows. Do you have a larger one or could tell me how to enlarge this one? Thank you for this great tutorial & for any help you can give me. God bless.

Hi, anonymous,the free pdf pattern comes in four sizes (extra small is one of them) and the pattern should be visible to you if you click the link to the pattern. As for measurements, I'm copying the information from the pdf (just in case you haven't found it) for the extra small hat size: 'Extra-small fits 6-12 month-old, inside crown measurement= 18" (small, 12-24 M, 19";medium, 3-5, 20"; large, 6-8, 21")' - however please bear in mind that I used the largest size for our three-year old and it fits him. Therefore I think the sizes are a bit on the small side, so you might also consider using the SMALL size. I hope this helps! Happy sewing, Damjana

I have made quite a few of these hats for my babies in the last 2 years....you can never have too many. I just go to spotlight to find some cute patterned kids fabric and matching plain colours then I mix them in different combinations to get the reversible hat. I add a string (made from matching fabric) and a cord holder (?) to help keep the hat on their head!

White+Warren, thank you so much for your comment! So there will be a bunch of your friends' kids running around in little colorful hats, how cute! And yes, a combination of pink hues would be great! Must try it out myself too, for my little baby girl - but first I need to stack on girly fabrics. (With a boy in our home, I've only been buying blue and green for the last three years, LOL). Have a great day,

Hi, Linda,and thanks for asking. I haven't made a hat (using this pattern) from flannel yet, but as far as I know, it should work really nicely - but just to make sure your project turns out really nice, at least one of the two layers should be thick flannel. But since flannel is warm, I believe you want to make a hat to be used for transitional months and not for the hot summer, right?

Thank you! Your tutorial is so simple that I could make a cute jeans hat for my 3 months old son (I printed the PDF a little smaller scale to 94% because my baby 's head measures its only 41cm diameter). Greetings from Chile!

no, I didn't add any seam allowances to the hats I've made so far. If I remember correctly, they are already accounted for (didn't find any instructions about that at Oliver&S' site though...) Allerliebste Grüsse nach Deutschland! <3

I've been using this pattern for a few years. My Daughters-in-law love the hats I make for my Grandies each Christmas. But one Grandson's headsize is just about bigger than the large pattern now. Can I enlarge it do you think. Or would that not work?

Lois, it should work just fine if you only need to grade the pattern one size up. This link might help: https://www.craftsy.com/blog/2015/02/easy-guide-pattern-grading/ - just look up the SECOND METHOD -shift method. Happy sewing!

I love your tutorial, so much easy to follow and understand! Just one question though.....Did you press the wrinkles out of your fabric before sewing the pieces together. I just completed sewing the sides of the hat to the crown, on both pieces, and since I did so much pinning and maneuvering of the fabric while sewing and trying to get the pieces to fit together correctly, they are wrinkled. Should I press them again before continuing and adding the brim pieces?